New operator of Aussie TV to be decided soon

By Peter Kerr

JAKARTA (JP): A new operator to re-establish an Australian satellite television service to Indonesia and the rest of Asia is expected to be decided within days.

A spokesman for Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said final talks with the proposed new provider had been held this week and a decision was imminent, with the new service likely to be running within about a month.

Australia's only satellite television presence in Asia and the Pacific ended abruptly at midnight on March 23 after the former provider, the Seven Network, decided it was losing too much money.

Seven had teamed with Australia's multicultural broadcaster SBS as one of six tenderers for a replacement service, but pulled out shortly before its Australia Television International (ATVI) shut down.

Downer's spokesman said on Friday that the government had held talks with the next best tenderer over the past few days and a proposal had just been finalized.

The government has said it will provide up to A$75 million (US$36.5 million) over five years to ensure an Australian television service is maintained in the Asia-Pacific region.

Late last month it also urgently approved A$600,000 in extra funds to ensure that the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's international radio service, which leased satellite transponder capacity from ATVI, would not be hampered.

ATVI has had a difficult time since it was launched by the government-owned ABC in 1993.

With a satellite service spanning from India to Beijing to Western Samoa, it was envisaged as the region's pre-eminent service, to rival the BBC World Service.

But it accumulated A$7.3 million in losses in its first three years, and was sold to Seven after a government inquiry.

Seven's chairman Kerry Stokes initially predicted strong growth in "the world's fastest-growing economic region", but there were increasing concerns at Seven after the 1997 economic collapse.

There were also complaints from supporters of the ABC, under which ATVI pushed a strong news and current affairs platform, that Seven was more interested in light entertainment and lifestyle programs.

Last month Downer expressed his disappointment that Seven had withdrawn as a tenderer for the new service.

The government "continues to believe that it is in the national interest that there should be an Australian television service in the region, projecting modern and informative images of Australia", he said.

There were similar words when ABC radio got its extra $600,000 last month, and when the government last year reversed its controversial decision to drastically pare back the ABC's Radio Australia.

Foremost in the minds of government ministers has been regional instability, especially in Indonesia, and the ability to continue broadcasting Australian news and current affairs to defense personnel in East Timor.

Announcing a $9 million boost over three years for Radio Australia last August, after a public outcry over the downsizing plans, Downer and Communications Minister Richard Alston said: "Recent events have highlighted the value of Australia's international broadcasting activities in conveying accurate news and information to the region, as well as providing an Australian perspective."

ABC sources were reported at the time as saying the extra $9 million would help increase Radio Australia's Bahasa Indonesia broadcasts to Indonesia from about three hours a day to up to eight hours a day.